S.S. Gill is arbitrary, says NCW

NEW DELHI, May 26: The knives went out for Prasar Bharati CEO S.S. Gill and AIR and DD Director General (News and Current Affairs) Harish Awasthi today when the National Commission for Women (NCW) ruled that the officials were “arbitrary and capricious”. The NCW was presenting its report on the recruitment and removal of DD news readers.

Complainants Salma Sultan and Kaveri Mukherjee were present as Mohini Giri and Padma Seth read out the recommendations of the Commission. Gill was away in Gibraltar and Awasthi did not put in an appearance.

They said copies of the ruling had been sent to Gill, Awasthi and the Information and Broadcasting Minister, Sushma Swaraj, and they were binding on the persons, unless they could come up with satisfactory reasons for their behaviour. The report said both officials had been unable to convince the NCW as to why only women had been deprived of reading during the prime time slot while men with the same experience continued to do so.

The commission objected to the language used by Gill in his depositions, including phrases like “all that’s rubbish”.